Attachment Theory
by Windsurf
Summary: So apparently, Classic Sonic either had a really bad sore throat during Sonic Generations...or a really bad past.  If there was a psychology genre, I would put this there.  Full summary's inside and NO!  I do NOT own any of this in any way, shape, or form
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, all!**

**So, first off, I think it's quite obvious that this is not a chapter.**

**Instead, it's an explanation. Stupid character limit in the summary…**

It all pretty much started in psychology, when we discussed the parts of the brain and their development – particularly the speech area. The teacher gave us an example of how sometime during the Renaissance era, or around then, a 12 or 14 year old boy was discovered in France. Discovered, as in no one had even known he had existed until they stumbled upon him. The boy had had no human contact in his life and was essentially wild. Naturally, they tried to civilize him and teach him language.

They failed. Utterly. He was incapable of learning speech.

Then, in anatomy and physiology just a tad bit later, we studied nervous tissue. And the teacher told us about neurons, and when they're formed, how half of the ones in the brain pretty much commit cell suicide right before we're born, yadda yadda. And interestingly enough, she also told us a story about a modern New York girl who had been horribly abused. Her father had kept her locked up in a bathroom all twelve years of her life, and so she had never learned speech either.

And when they tried to teach her, all she could understand were the nouns and vocabulary. She was incapable of picking up all the complex syntax that we use to put nouns together. Picture it kind of like a foreigner who tried to learn a language. At first, they're going to say something like, 'Me want water' before they get better. But she was never able to improve past that point.

No speech. Remind us of anyone?

But of course, Classic Sonic could understand language. So what gives? Did he have a really painful sore throat?

That's one idea. But this story is about another:

The title, attachment theory, happens to be the current topic in my psych class and it plays a huge part in our development, from infancy to adulthood. I'm not going to say much more on it here, because I want the story to show its conjectures and points and influence over us. But I will say that this is my attempt to use what I learn from my psych textbook to explain how Classic Sonic became who he is.

**And there you go. Explanation.**

**Now for an actual summary:**

Shadow just wanted away from that happy birthday party of socializing anthropomorphs, unable to stand the torture of having to watch from outside. He wanted away from the smiling blue hedgehog who always insisted on dragging him into complex adventures of teamwork and friendship, the way you would drag a horse to water, but for reasons of his own, Shadow refused to drink. So he picked up his Chaos Emerald and teleported away.

Sonic knew that something was missing in his life and that he wanted it, even if he didn't know what 'it' was. He knew that if he had had it, he would have a very different life, one far more similar to the lives everyone else led, and very possibly a happier one, too. So when he found a kindred spirit in the form of a small, abandoned fox kit on the forest floor, Sonic was determined to give him what he himself had been deprived of. Even if he still didn't really know what that was.

Tails was a young freak of nature, kicked out of his village the instant the few people who had wanted him were gone. He was also, according to an odd hedgehog, a person exactly like everyone else who had the same needs as everyone else, and who deserved a life just like everyone else. So Tails decided to take the odd hedgehog's offer of a life, and followed him through space and time.

**And the first chapter will be up soon :)**


	2. First Contact

**And here you go! I'm excited to get this out there…it was a little hard to write, because we tend to romanticize childbirth and babies (which do immediately start to cry until someone pays attention to them, but unlike the usual preconceptions, don't start smiling until a while later), and I'm trying to stick to facts about newborns as much as I can.**

**Not those facts about childbirth, you sillies! Get those images out of your head! This is rated K+!**

**Yeah, there's nothing inappropriate in the entire story. Just saying.**

**jakeroo123 – Wow, thanks for the early support! It really motivated me to finish this earlier :). Now, when you say Tails' backstory, do you mean the one that the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon follows? Because Sonic X has a very different one, and while I don't particularly like either of them, I am following the Sonic X version in this story, wherein Tails was by himself, but got teased and bullied regularly, giving him lots of negative encounters with civilization.**

**And the disclaimer's in the summary. I am NOT going to repeat myself.**

**Attachment Theory: The Way It Was, Sonic's Birth**

A good distance away from Earth, there is a medium-sized planet that its inhabitants have dubbed 'Mobius.' On it, there is a sector comprised of what the residents call 'Zones' because of their very pronounced and unique characteristics. One of these zones is amazingly lush and fertile, and so was named 'Green Hill Zone.' It's a very peaceful place with a surprisingly small population. Everyone lives in the little village at the center of the zone. It's one of the few things that doesn't have a name, as it is the only one of its kind, but if it ever popped into a conversation, if it wasn't called 'the village,' a person would probably say 'Green Hill village' or 'the village in Green Hill' or some such informal address. But despite its ignominy and size (or lack thereof), it is a very well-kept and pleasant place to live with public services provided. There's a little school to the left of the public square and an administrative building with only one level beside it. A hospital sits across the square from them. It's rarely used, except during cold season, but the mayor ensures that it is always ready for certain events, no matter their rarity.

Our story takes us to one of the precious few days such a rarity happened. Screams and wails were rising from the hospital.

"Boiling water? Someone else can do that! Please, just let me be with her!" a blue hedgehog with dark brown eyes shouted, cringing as yet another cry blasted into his ears. "She needs me!"

"She hasn't asked for you," the nurse firmly, but kindly told him from her solid position in front of the door. A string of words vaguely sounding something like 'I'MGOINGTOKILLYOUJULES! I'*SSJUSTSOYOUKNOWEXACTLYWHATI'MGOINGTHROUGH!' came from behind the door and nurse added, "and it doesn't sound like she's going to be asking for you anytime soon."

Jules slumped against the wall. "Do all fathers have to go through this?"

"Oh, no," the nurse told him, grinning. "Some are far worse. I picked up most of my death threats from these rooms, you know." Jules nodded, recalling a very specific incident when he had panicked and driven his wife here in the dead of night because he thought she had gone into labor. This same, albeit sleepy, nurse had informed him then that 'this is it, if you call a fifth false alarm, then, Chaos help you, I WILL FEED YOUR INTESTINES TO THE FLICKIES AND GIVE YOUR EYEBALLS TO THE FISH BEFORE HANDING THE REST OF YOU TO A FERAL BEAR WAKING UP FROM HIBERNATION!'

She was much nicer now. To his ears, that is. "Your wife hasn't been anywhere near as creative as the others I've heard, and besides, she hasn't even been threatening you with death. She seems to have an admirably strong sense of justice instead of revenge, so I would count you as lucky."

"Fantastic," he said dryly, flinching yet again, although now not entirely because of the screams. "Because one is sooo much better than the other."

The nurse laughed just as a high-pitched wail rose into the air. A doctor poked his head out of the room. "You can come in now."

With a speed that could have rivaled sound, Jules raced into the room, coming to a sudden stop right beside his wife, who was holding a tiny, crying bundle in her lavender arms.

"Hey, little boy, meet your daddy," she cooed, brushing back tiny, soft quills the shade of baby blue so she could gaze into unfocused black eyes. The crying slowly turned into gurgling, which in turn became vaguely happy burbling and squealing as the baby hedgehog made contact with the first person in his life.

Smiling exhaustedly at her new child, Bernadette couldn't resist bouncing him up and down just a little, continuing to coo at him before leaning back so Jules could enter the baby's very limited field of vision.

"Hey, there," the blue adult grinned. "He's…"

"Cute?" Bernadette suggested. "Beautiful? Perfect?"

"All of the above," he replied, reaching forward to run a gloved hand down the side of the child's face. The child snuggled up to it, seeking the additional warmth.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hedgehog?" The attendant stuck her head through the door. "We are making the birth certificate. Do you have a name for him?"

The parents paused. It seemed that in the rush of finding bottles and clothes and other baby needs, they had forgotten that one crucial aspect. Well, Bernadette hadn't, but the name she had picked out had been a girl's.

"Well…" Jules observed his new son, from the familiar blue quills and the rotund figure to the calm expression on his face. "He looks like a…Maurice to me."

"Boo boo, ooo-Maurice?" his wife asked skeptically, pausing for a moment. A tiny whine rose in the air, and she immediately continued.

"It was my grandfather's name!" Jules defended. "And it's a perfectly respectable one!"

"Yes, dear, of course," his wife nodded. "But…" She searched for the right words. Her husband had a very easy-going nature, but that didn't mean she could just shoot down all his ideas. "I want something more original for our baby. He's not your grandfather; he's our son." She mimicked her husband's earlier gesture, cupping the silent baby boy's head in her hand.

Jules adopted a mock expression of shock. "You hear that, little guy? Mommy doesn't like the name I picked for you, does she? Well then, my queen, what do you suggest?" The baby burbled slightly at his address, staring in his general vicinity as he swept a deep bow in front of the hospital bed.

"If it helps," the doctor cut in, "you don't have to pick the name right now. You do have a fourteen-day period before we have to put something down for the birth certificate."

The couple shared another glance before the newborn started crying again and Bernadette had to tend to him.

"Demanding little tyke, aren't you?" Jules grinned down at his now-content son.

"It is entirely natural for him to want to stay with his mother at all times," the doctor explained. "Actually, he will demand attention constantly, and will accept it from anybody until he's about 8 months old."

"Eight months?"

"By then, the concept of Stranger Danger begins to kick in."

"Ah," Jules nodded. "In answer to your earlier question, I think we'll get back to you."

The doctor nodded his assent absentmindedly, adjust his glasses slightly while he observed a sheet of paper in front of him. "Very well. Then you two – excuse me, three, are allowed to leave. If you would – Mrs. Hedgehog, sit down."

"Honey, are you alright?" Jules asked worriedly.

Bernadette sighed, sitting back on the bed when it became apparent that she couldn't get up and hold the baby at the same time. "Hold him," she demanded of her husband.

"What?"

With another wail from the baby over the lack of attention and an exasperated eye roll from Bernadette, the adult hedgehog drew the hoglet close to her chest again, whispering words of comfort. "Shh, shh, it's okay," Bernadette soothed, bouncing him in a methodical, lulling movement. "It's your daddy. He's a great hedgehog. The best hedgehog around."

Jules chuckled at the praise as he slowly raised his arms to hold the baby Bernadette was bringing towards him. Once in his grasp, he stared down at his son from an entirely new angle. With him nestled against his chest, he couldn't help but marvel at the baby's tiny size. His chubby, cream-colored hands waved around slightly before resting on Jule's chest in an attempt to grab his current comforter. The background faded out as Jules stared down into the newest Hedgehog's face. It was an almost exact copy of his own, albeit much smaller and without the constant grin.

And, he had to admit, it was adorable. Much more adorable than his own. So cute that he just knew he was going to have problems withstanding the puppy-faces his son would give him in the future. In fact, he probably wouldn't' be able to resist any face his son gave him right now. He was just too _cute_.

Giggling slightly, the adult hedgehog began pulling some of his own faces, making the most ridiculous ones he could think of and succeeding in making his son give something that could pass for a laugh.

"Jules Hedgehog, what are you teaching our son?"

He immediately adopted an innocent look. "What?"

Bernadette playfully tapped his shoulder, unwilling to push him for fear of anything happening to the child in his arms, but also because she didn't have the strength to.

And Jules could feel it. "Shouldn't you be resting? Doc, I thought you said you had a wheelchair for her?"

The frazzled doctor huffed. "I did have a wheelchair for her. She gave me such a horrid time with it that I gave up."

"Pfft, wheelchair," Bernadette scoffed while holding onto her husband for support. "I don't need some wheelchair. Wheelchairs are for old people in retirement homes. Or people recovering from being sick."

Jules would have pointed out that she was currently recovering from a very recent childbirth, but decided they would be able to get home faster if he kept his mouth shut on that topic. "Alright, ready to go home?"

She flashed him a bright smile, showing the strong spirit inhabiting her currently weak form. "Five minutes ago."

"Congratulations on your new child," the doctor said again, smiling at them when they walked out the door. "You'll take good care of him; I can tell."

**And…cut! Hope you liked it, and that you leave reviews on how I can make it better ^_^.**

**Next up? A little material from a different part of psychology, temperament, although attachment theory will still remain as the major focus of this story.**

**Yeah, so, Psych test on the development unit is next week, so food news is I'll be working on this story furiously.**

**Until next time :)**


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